Joe and Kirk, I try to answer your questions.
> I understand that forestry in Finland is one of your nation's major economic > engines It was that until to 1970s or 1980s. It was a major force contributing to Finland's economic boom after the war. I remember well, that when I was a teenager, the finnish TV showed every evening a short manifest "Finland lives from forest" with pictures of endless coniferous forest and national music. However, the percentage of forestry industry has decreased steadily during the last 30 years or so, and now the forest economy is only about three percent of the GDP of Finland. The biggest reasons are probably international competition (like from South America) and the rise of finnish information technology (like Nokia). >From my personal perspective, forestry was also the force contributing to the disappearing of forested wilderness in Finland. Pioneers of nature protection in Finland say, that still in 1970s there were big roadless wildernesses in eastern Finland, but now the forestry is so effectively managed that in southern half of Finland there is no point more than 3km (1.9 mi) from a road and the mean forest distance from a road is 300-500m (0.2-0.3 mi). There are still large wilderness areas in the very north of Finland but it is there merely woodland or treeless tundra. > and that your sawmills are world class- maybe the best in the world. Am I > correct in this? I would say also here that it was that. Finland was a pioneer of modern forestry technology, but I guess now the same class technology is used in many other countries. But finnish forestry technology is still high appreciated: for example, Botnia, a finnish forestry industry company, built recently a giant pulp factory in Uruguay. > Are most of the forests planted after harvesting or are they naturally > regenerated? More than half of the forests are planted. The three important forestry tree species are Picea abies (Norway Spruce), Pinus sylvestris (Scots Pine) and Betula pendula (Silver Birch). Natural regeneration is used only for the pine, which grows well on dry soils. On moist soils rapid growth of grasses slows too much seedling growth, and therefore the spruce and the birch are normally planted. The same three species would be the most important ones in Finland also by nature. > Do private landowners get tax breaks if they manage their forests? They get tax reduction from the cost of forest management. > Do most private forest owners manage their forests? Yes. > Do they hire foresters? Yes, if they don't do the management theirself. About Sweden and Norway I cannot say much. I guess forestry in Sweden does not differ much from that in Finland. Southern Norway has a mild oceanic climate and Picea sitchensis (Sitka Spruce) is planted extensively there. Kouta --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org Send email to [email protected] Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
